Phantom Recall

3 || school shenanigans

I believe it was for the best Noir and I didn't join Eret's family for dinner.

For starters, I can't say I was feeling particularly hungry — if I could experience hunger at all, I can't say as of yet, but it would be among the least of my concerns either way. I discover Eret has quite the large family, with five younger siblings at home, and two older ones who apparently share an apartment a couple miles from here. Then of course there's Eret's father, who arrives home shortly after the whole family gathered in the kitchen.

In the meantime as everyone else ate, Noir and I are left to our own devices. Any devices, Eret insists after showing us to the attic (which happens to be his bedroom). Any books or video games or anything we see here, we're welcome to occupy ourselves with until he comes back. He doesn't even try hiding how desperate he is to keep us around.

It's all rather disorienting.

Comic books and games and a TV...none of it seems even remotely interesting to me right now. And while I don't want Eret to spiral into a manic panic at my unannounced disappearance, I also can't bear to stay cramped in this cluttered attic for much longer, either. Honestly, I don't get how he can bear it. A dull, threadbare carpet, a low ceiling, walls colored an ugly shade of peeling green paint. Chances are it wasn't always used as a bedroom. Most likely a storage area, but with the demands of a growing family, things had to be rearranged, and thus Eret was urged into this space.

At the very least, there are a couple windows up here. Both on the same wall that lead out onto an open roof.

My eyes hook onto the window latch.

I need air. I don't know why, but I do. Dead or not it still feels like I'm breathing, and I'm not willing to find out the hard way if I can suffocate to second-death, either.

And yet, even with an ever-tightening knot in my lungs, I hesitate.

It's a roof. With what scarce memory of my death I possess, I can deduce that roofs and I don't get along well.

"You thinkin' about going outside?"

Noir's sudden question snaps me out of a daze. I crane my neck to look behind me, finding him cross-legged on the floor with an old GameBoy in his hands.

"Oh, uh...yeah." I clear my throat and stretch my shoulders to loosen some nerves. It works. Or, perhaps, it's the thought of this kid making fun of me for being scared of heights that dispels the last of my apprehension. I approach the window with arms outstretched and pop open the white metal latch sealing it shut. For an old window it slides open pretty easily.

"I'll come with," Noir announces. Before I can so much as blink, the boy is in front of me, grabbing onto the window ledge to hoist himself out. I watch him wander over to the very edge of the roof — there is no guardrail or fence. My heart lurches.

He doesn't fall. Any closer and he would, but I suppose he has enough depth perception to draw the line somewhere.

I swallow my breath.

I press one hand against the ledge while my foot inches out of the attic to touch solid ground outside. A breath of chilled air sweeps over my entire body, and I shiver one limb at a time. Strangely enough, though, it's somehow inviting.

"Oh, pretty. It's a crescent moon."

I look up at Noir again at the sound of his voice. Once fully outside, I can see it, too. An iridescent moon, suspended amongst a thin scattering of wispy grey clouds and clearly visible from the rooftop. I wouldn't be surprised if Eret took advantage of his situation and came out here often, too.